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Chemical elements

A red car and a large salt truck drive on a snowy road next to a mountain.

Can bacteria help us prevent salt damage to concrete roads and bridges?

Science

Spring has long been filled with bumps and potholes in roads, many of which are caused by the salt that makes driving safe all winter. New research has shown how this annual problem could become a thing of the past with bacteria, which are being used in the fight to maintain our roads and save our streets from costly damage.

In Remote Spanish Town, a Glimmer of Hope in Tantalum

Lifestyle & Belief

Researcher pioneers low-cost means of storing energy

Environment

Official kilogram has put on a little weight

Environment

Colombian miners looking to more environmentally friendly gold mining process

Environment
The World

Colombia Sets Sight on ‘Green Gold’

Colombia is a hotspot of mercury pollution from small-scale gold mining. But it’s also a testing ground for a new movement to reduce mercury pollution by paying small-scale miners more to use less of the toxic metal.

The World

Where Does The Platinum In Your Bling Come From?

Conflict & Justice

One country supplies 75 percent of the world’s platinum. Economic geologist Anthony Naldrett details how platinum from its mines at the Bushveld complex ends up in everything from catalytic converters to expensive bling.

Massive Lead Poisoning in Nigeria

Business, Economics and Jobs

A gold mining boom driven by high global prices is contaminating local villages with toxic lead dust, leading to a crisis that Human Rights Watch says is the worst lead poisoning epidemic in modern history.

The World

Lead Series; The Silent Epidemic: – Part Two (of 3)

The way people get acute lead poisoning is through exposure to old paint right at home. The stereotype is of a poor child eating a paint chip in a dilapidated housing project. But, plenty of cases of poisoning come from lead dust, particles too small to notice. And while children living in low-income homes run […]

The World

LEAD SERIES; THE SILENT EPIDEMIC: – PART THREE IN THE WORKPLACE

Most adults’ exposure to lead isn’t enough to endanger their health. But, thousands of people work in close contact with dangerous lead fumes and dust; sometimes without even knowing it. State and federal rules require employers to protect their workers from toxic materials, still, some industries continue to operate with little or no safety precautions […]